President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced the commencement of his administration’s Student Loans Scheme in January 2024, signaling an end to the era of academic strikes in Nigeria.
The President made this announcement during his address at the 29th annual Nigerian Economic Summit, organized by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) on October 23, 2023, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
In June 2023, President Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, into law, which provides interest-free education loans for Nigerians pursuing tertiary education. This act establishes an Education Loan Fund, allowing students to fund their higher education and repay the loans in installments starting two years after completing their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program.
The Act mandates the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to oversee loan requests, grants, disbursement, and loan recovery. This fund will be financed through various sources, including one percent of federal government profits from oil and minerals, one percent of taxes and levies collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), education bonds, and endowment fund schemes, as well as donations, gifts, grants, and revenue from other sources.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will serve as the fund’s custodian, managed by an 11-person special committee chaired by the CBN governor. Committee members include the ministers of education and finance (or their representatives), the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Chairman of the National Universities Commission (NUC), representatives of university vice-chancellors, polytechnic rectors, and college of education provosts, as well as representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The special committee will establish regulations and guidelines governing the loan application process, eligibility criteria, and repayment terms. These regulations must be followed by all stakeholders, including parents, student applicants, loan beneficiaries, and deposit banks.
Furthermore, members of the committee hold their positions until they are replaced or retire. They may also cease to be part of the committee if they go bankrupt, are convicted of a felony, engage in dishonesty or fraud, or become incapable of performing their duties due to mental incapacity or other reasons.
President Tinubu’s Student Loans Scheme aims to provide financial support to students pursuing higher education, ultimately putting an end to academic strikes and improving access to education in Nigeria.